Favorite Winter Books - Vintage Edition! 🤩❄️💙📘

Happy Mid-Winter! 🤩💙❄️✨

I'm really excited to share my winter book collection! 😊 These are all of the books I own, read or want-to-read with “winter” in the title (or with a winter-themed cover.) Do you see any favorites here? 🤔📚

Books with Winter in the Title: Photo A

I’m MOST excited to read Winter's Grace by Ruby Ferguson!! Yay! 🥰 (Marion @fortheloveofbooks75 was so incredibly kind to ship this book to me from the UK! Thank you, dear friend! 💕)

Winter in the Title: Photo B

WINTER TITLED BOOK RATINGS:

❄️ The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder 4🌟
❄️ Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher  5🌟
❄️ Winter and Rough Weather by D.E. Stevenson 4🌟
❄️ Winter at Thrush Green by Miss Read 5🌟
❄️ Stories for Winter 3.5🌟
❄️ Winter Carnival by Frances Pascal 3🌟
❄️ Winter Spirits by Bridget Collins, etc. 4.25🌟
❄️ A Week in Winter by Marcia Willett 4.5🌟 
❄️ Winter Story by Jill Barklem 4.5🌟
❄️ Honey Bunch: Her First Winter at Snowtop by Helen Louise Thorndyke 4🌟
❄️ The Little Ghost Quilt’s Winter Surprise by Riel Nason 5🌟
❄️ The Winter of the Dollhouse by Laura Amy Schlitz 4🌟 
❄️ A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair 4🌟
❄️ The Willows in Winter by William Horwood 5🌟 (a gift from Caro at carosbookcase 😍)

READ, BUT DO NOT OWN:
☃️ Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink 4.5🌟
☃️ Iris in Winter by Elizabeth Cadell 3🌟

The Perfect Winter Children's Book!

WINTER TITLED BOOK TBR:

💙 The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons
💙 Winter Kitchen by Louise Andrews Kent
💙 Winter Wedding by Betty Neels
💙 Winterwood by Dorothy Eden
💙 A Winter Love Story by Betty Neels
💙 Emma in Winter by Penelope Farmer
💙 Jean’s Winter with the Warners by Christine Whiting Parmenter

One of the first Dean Street Press Furrowed Middlebrow books I ever read!

 
WINTER TITLED BOOK WISHLIST:

❄️ Mary Jane Winter Sports by Clara Ingram Judson 
❄️ The Bobbey Twins’ Wonderful Winter Secret by Laura Lee Hope 

Now, here are the books in my collection that have winter-y covers, but don't have "winter" in the title. 

Wintery Covers: Photo A

WINTERY COVER BOOKS:

🌨 Ice on the Lawn by Jill Stevens 3.75🌟 (the sweetest gift from Carla @c.brown685!💗)
🌨 White Holiday by Viola Bayley 4.5🌟
🌨 Rosemary by Josephine Lawrence 4🌟
🌨 Shoulder the Sky/Winter in Rough Weather by D.E. Stevenson 4🌟
🌨 The Joy of the Snow by Elizabeth Goudge 5🌟

Wintery Covers: Photo B

 WINTERY COVERS TBR:

💙 Angel on Skis by Betty Cavanna (a buddy read with Andrea @sorrythankyou79 🥳)
💙 Brown Door Venture by Pamela Brown (a thoughtful gift from Carla @c.brown685!💝)
💙 Concerning Casey by Eve Bennett (a wonderful gift from Andrea @sorrythankyou79 💙)
💙 Practically Seventeen by Rosamond du Jardin
💙 The Jennifer Gift by Eunice Young Smith
💙 The Unfinished House by Margaret Sutton
💙 The Great Blizzard by Albert E. Idell
💙 Bobbsey Twins: Merry Days Indoors and Out by Laura Lee Hope

Riel Nason's books are sooo wonderful! I've loved both in the series so far! 5🌟

I hope to update this post every year with new books, photos and ratings! If you have any favorite winter-themed books or winter-titled suggestions for me, please comment below or send me an email! Thank you! 🤩

The best cozy books plus vegan marshmallow squares and a cup of lemon balm tea!

I had to add a couple more photos of wintery books...and my new-to-me Brambly Hedge Winter teacup and snack plate set! Along with the Brambly Hedge Winter Story and A Visit to Brambly Hedge (another awesome Christmas gift from Caro @carosbookcase! ❤️) 

A thoughtful and imaginative contemporary middle grade book!

Here's our house after the snowstorm last weekend...it's so magical!

Warm hugs to you, lovely friends! 💕☃️🤗☃️💕  

Our New Hampshire home in winter!

P.S. Did I mention that my son, Benji, was born on December 23rd and his middle name is Winter! 😍 (This is a pic of him on his 1st birthday...awww!) 

Baby Ben Winter House

Favorite 25 Books of 2025! 🤩🎉📚🌈

Happy New Year, Friends!! 😍💕✨

I'm just under the wire for posting my 25 Favorite Books of 2025 before the end of January—whew! 

Before I go right into my post, I thought I'd share some of the lovely things happening in my life right now:

💙 Organizing the details of my April trip with Liz/Raspberry Tart to visit London for the first time! (Ahhh! 🤯 So excited! 🥳)
💙 Planning my trip to the BFF Sticker Club Camp in September with the BFF Sticker Group! (Yay!! 🤩🌈💫)
💙 Currently adoring White Holiday by Viola Bayley (a Children's Press edition 🥰) 
💙 Re-watching Downton Abbey with Ian
💙 Movie and knitting dates with Caro ☺️🧡 (Check out her 2025 favorite books!)
💙 Re-listening to A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie audiobook
💙 Setting up my cork B6 Traveler's Journal for 2026 with inserts for books read, my planner, to-do list and sketchbook.
💙 Trying not to collect too many Calico Critter figurines...but it's hard! 😂
💙 Reading as many winter vintage books as possible (and loving it!)  

Okay...FINALLY onto books!

This was another fantastic reading year with 240 BOOKS under my book belt. Woo-hoo! 

If you'd like to see some of more of My Favorite Books From Past Years, here are links to my Instagram posts:

24 Favs in 2024 

23 Favs in 2023 

22 Favs in 2022

21 Favs in 2021 

Here are the books that brought me the MOST HAPPINESS last year 🥰 

All were 5🌟 ratings and books that I will 100% read again! 

REPUBLISHED BOOKS:
🌟 The Man in the Dark
🌟 Under the Rainbow
🌟 At School with the Stanhopes
🌟 Mothers and Daughters
🌟 The Pink House
🌟 The Strange House

VINTAGE BOOKS:
🌟 A Flute on Mayferry Street
🌟 Pink Sugar
🌟 Taken By the Hand 
🌟 Rochester’s Wife
🌟 Silver Slippers

VINTAGE CHILDREN'S BOOKS:
🌟 Elizabeth of the Garret Theatre
🌟 Black Forest Summer
🌟 All Because of Gina
🌟 The Vine Clad Hill
🌟 It's Nice To Be Me
🌟 Guinea Pig Podge
🌟 The April Baby’s Book of Tunes
🌟 In the Closed Room

NON-FICTION BOOKS:
🌟 A Sense of Seasons
🌟 The Joy of the Snow
🌟 The Book of Stillmeadow
🌟 Audrey at Home
🌟 A Thousand Feasts
🌟 Just Being Audrey

BONUS!!! BEST CONTEMPORARY BOOKS:
🌟 The World at Home by Ginny Kubitz Moyer
🌟 Emma M. Lion Series (especially Volumes 4 & 5) by Beth Brower
🌟 The Rocking of the Ocean by Barbara Matteson 

FAVORITE VINTAGE AUTHORS OF THE YEAR:
💓 Agatha Christie
💓 Gladys Taber
💓 Jean Hersey
💓 O. Douglas
💓 Gwendoline Courtney
💓 D.E. Stevenson
💓 Susan Scarlett
💓 Elizabeth Goudge
💓 Mabel Esther Allan

Do you see any favorite books or authors in this list? 

What was YOUR favorite book of 2025? 🤩🌟 Comment your favs below...I'm dying to know! 

Much love and many warm hugs! 💕❄️🤗❄️💕 

Dynamic Duo for Dean Street December! 😍📚🎄❤️✨

Happy Furrowed Middlebrow Friday and Happy Dean Street Press December 2025! 🥳💜✨

What could be better than spending the most lovely and cozy moments of December snuggled up with a cup of tea and a snack by a warm, crackling fire with a Dean Street Press's Furrowed Middlebrow book? (hint: nothing!)

So many thanks to Liz Dexter at Adventures in Reading for hosting another wonderful wintery month of DSP books! Yippee! ☺️📘❄️💙

Ian's SPAM socks (with container) and his 33-year-old can of unopened SPAM! 

Spam Tomorrow by Verily Anderson 

RATING: 4.5🌟 

A non-stop roller coaster of activity on the home front! 

This wartime memoir by Verily Anderson grabbed me from the very first page until the (wonderfully satisfying) last sentence. At first, I thought that Ms. Anderson's writing was all-over-the-place and it really had my head reeling...BUT...once I got into the rhythm and pace of her thoughts and writing style, it was a JOY to read. 

To me, the life of Verily, her family, her friends (and then later with her husband, Donald) reminds me of these other titles:

❊ The humor, flurry, excitement and coziness of the Mrs. Tim series by D.E. Stevenson
❊ A smidge of the satirical and amusing novels, The Benefactress and The Caravaners, by Elizabeth von Arnim
❊ With a touch of Susan Scarlett's slightly silly and irreverent (but also touching) romance novels. 

Once I got used to the author's writing style (maybe 30% in?), I flew through the rest of the memoir and I didn't want it to end. There's so much to love, lots to laugh about and also a little bit to frustrate in Spam Tomorrow. 

If you love wartime memoirs, quirky personalities, unbelievably wacky situations and an underlining theme of real life and honest feelings/reactions during the war, this book is for you! I really enjoyed it!

Murder While You Work by Susan Scarlett

RATING: 4.75🌟 

Oooh! This was SO good! I had no idea that Susan Scarlett wrote a murder mystery! 😱

This story had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. It has the perfect blend of coziness, Susan Scarlett/Noel Streatfeild's sparkling writing and intrigue. It was so hard to put down. Wow!

The only reason why I didn't give it a full five stars is because Judy (who I really liked overall) was almost entirely clueless to the affections of a certain war-time colleague. It seems to me that the author wrote her character to be very clever, positive, attractive and observant...but, in this one aspect, she is totally blind to the words and actions of this man. I had such a hard time believing this fact that it frustrated me and I had to bump it down a half star. 😭

But, aside from that, it was AMAZING! I would absolutely re-read this Susan Scarlett novel and...who knows...I might end up changing it to a five star story in the end. 

Highly recommended! One of my Top 3 Susan Scarlett favs! 

I also plan on re-reading Miss Plum and Miss Penny by one of my favorite authors, Dorothy Evelyn Smith this month! It's another Christmas-y favorite of mine! 😍❤️📚🎄

NOTE: 

Current Favorite Teas: Organic lemon balm, Simpson & Vale's Literary Teas in Goldilocks and the Three Bears or Louisa May Alcott (thoughtful and delicious gifts from Christie @felines_and_flowers!)

Current Favorite Snacks: Gladys Taber's homemade cranberry walnut tea bread, Fine & Raw dark chocolate or oyster crackers

Now, I can't even imagine December without a Dean Street Press book in my hand! I think I already have 2-3 DSP titles in mind for next year. Do you have any suggestions for me? 

What are your favorite drinks or snacks to enjoy while reading? Let me know in the comments below! 

If I can't manage to share another blog post this month, I want to wish all of you the most joyful, healing and peaceful holiday and New Year!! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog, comment, like my posts on Instagram/Facebook/Goodreads and for always being so caring, supportive and encouraging! It was also so exciting to grow from 1900 to almost 2400 followers on Instagram since early this year...thank you, thank you! 

All of my love, warmest hugs, and wishes for the most cozy and amazing reading for the rest of the year and 2026!! 🥰💕🤗❄️✨🎁💫❤️💚🎄

 

The Little Dinner Book Review & BONUS Quite Literally Books Collection! 😍❤️🌟📚

I was incredibly charmed by this quaint little book about dining and dinner parties—which was originally published in 1892! I adore cookbooks that you can "read" (similar to cookbooks by Gladys Taber and Nigel Slater) and, even more, I love anything that has to do with entertaining from past decades. This subject is absolutely fascinating to me! 

The Little Dinner with The Magic Pantry Tarot Deck—A Perfect Pairing!

The Little Dinner by Christine Terhune Herrick (published by the wonderful NYC publishing company, Quite Literally Books) had me smirking, surprised, amused and completely enthralled from the very beginning. I made notes and bookmarked several passages to refer to later—not that I'll be giving a 1800s-themed little dinner party any time soon! 😆

I also found it interesting that, to this author (or perhaps in this time period), a "little dinner" consisted of at least 8 people and a minimum of 3 full meal courses. To me, a little dinner means simply dinner for myself or perhaps crackers and peanut butter (or hummus) with a hot cup of tea and some fruit! A baked potato added if I was really hungry. But, yikes! People coming to MY little dinner would have been deeply disappointed...and hungry!

My favorite sections were the ones discussing the table set up and dining room decor. The color scheme suggestions were wonderfully funny and also informative (if this combination can ever go together in a good way!). It was also a great delight to read through every recipe (I didn't pass over a single one, even though I'm vegan) and learn the types of foods/meals that guests would expect in the late 1800s. Frankly, I'm glad I missed all of that extra fat and meat. So much butter and deep frying! My arteries felt a bit clogged after reaching the index at the end 😱

All in all, reading this gorgeous edition by Quite Literally Books made my experience all the more enjoyable and simply a wonderful treat. Their books are so easy to read from in every way—French flaps, perfect spacing, easy-to-read fonts and a joy to hold in the hands (especially while reading in bed!) 

If you're a vintage/antique cookbook lover like I am, you NEED The Little Dinner in your collection. Not only because the cover design is dazzingly attractive, but because the content is solidly engaging and thought provoking. At least a 4🌟 read! Be prepared to stay up late into the night reading this book...and, perhaps, have a snack on hand just in case you get the munchies (he he).

Endless gratitude and thanks to the awesome and always friendly QLB Team for sending me this book (and two others!) for me to read and review. The Little Dinner is a GEM! 

I truly hope they will republish some of her other non-fiction books, as well! I would love to read more 😁📚

QLB, please republish more of Christine Terhune Herrick's titles! I'm very intrigued by: 

❊ Cradle and Nursery
❊ First Aid to the Young Housekeeper
❊ Sunday Night Suppers
❊ Housekeeping Made Easy
❊ What to Eat, How to Serve It
❊ The Expert Maid-Servant

I can't wait to read Herland and Who Would Have Thought It? next! 🤩🌟🥳💜📚 

Don't forget to check out my previous Quite Literally Books blog post!

Which title would you choose to read first? Tell me in the comments below 😍

Happy December, Friends! I hope to share at least one more blog post before the end of year. I hope it will be my TOP FAVORITE 25 BOOKS of 2025! 

Much love, as always! 💕❄️🤗❄️💕

 

The Best Halloween Book Collection! 👻📙☠️🖤🎃

Happy Halloween! 🎃👻🧛🏻‍♂️🧡🖤

Hello Friends!!! Here's just a sampling of the Halloween/Spooky/Ghostly books in my collection! Some of the titles have links (and more photos!) to my Instagram posts because I couldn't fit all of the photos here 😂

• 2024 Halloween Re-Reads
• 2023 Halloween Reads 
• 2021 Halloween Reads
• 2020 Halloween Reading Progress 

What are YOUR favorite Halloween books, activities and movies? 🤩 (Please comment below!)

[I'll do my best to update this Halloween Book Guide as time goes on! Please share your favorite Halloween book recommendations with me 😍]

FAVORITE BOOKS TO READ ON HALLOWEEN:

This mix of children's books, novels and mysteries are my go-to choices for getting my spirit into the spooky mood of the season. I tend to start with the less spine-tingling titles and then slowly increase the level of fright until a few days before Halloween. Then, I read all of my favorite children's novels, leaving Cranberry Halloween (my childhood fav) for the day itself. My list is in order of preference, not the order in which I read them. 

🎃 Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie 5🌟
🧛🏻‍♂️ Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kahara 5🌟
👻 The Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason 5🌟
🧙🏻‍♀️ The Pumpkin Smasher by Anita Benarde 5🌟
💀 How to Make Friends with a Ghost by Rebecca Green 5🌟
🎃 I SPY Spooky Night 5🌟
🧛🏻‍♂️ Thornyhold by Mary Stewart 4.75🌟
👻 Emma M. Lion Volume 4 by Beth Brower 5🌟
🧙🏻‍♀️ The Witch Next Door by Norman Bridwell 4.5🌟
💀 The Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson 4.5🌟 
🎃 The Last Seance by Agatha Christie 4.5🌟
🧛🏻‍♂️ A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney 4.5🌟
👻 The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell 4.5🌟
🧙🏻‍♀️ Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman 4.5🌟
💀 Cranberry Halloween by Wende & Harry Devlin 3🌟  

 

FAVORITE SPOOKY MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS:

Every year, I scour the used bookstores, websites, thrift stores and antique shops for new-to-me Halloween books. I especially love vintage middle grade chapter books with interesting covers. Sometimes, there's a brand new book at my local library that I'm not able to resist borrowing. If it meets my approval (including creepy, cute, sweet or scary...or a mixture of all four!), then I add it to my list. These eerily excellent books are my current favorites. 

🎃 In a Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett 5🌟 (A lovely book gift from Virginia @oldbookdreamer 🤩)
🧛🏻‍♂️ Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp 5🌟
👻 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman 5🌟
🧙🏻‍♀️ In a Blue Velvet Dress by Catherine Sefton 4.5🌟
💀 The Skull by Jon Klassen 4.5🌟
🎃 Gobbolino The Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams 4🌟
🧛🏻‍♂️ Meg Mystery Series by Holly Beth Walker 4🌟
👻 Spook by Jane Little 4🌟
🧙🏻‍♀️ The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn 4🌟
💀 Carbonel Series by Barbara Sleigh 4🌟
🎃 The Aveline Jones series by Phil Hickes 4🌟
🧛🏻‍♂️ Jade Green by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 4🌟
👻 Mystery of the Green Cat by Phyllis A. Whitney 4🌟
🧙🏻‍♀️ The Girl in the Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn 4🌟
💀 Amelia Fang by Laura Ellen Anderson 4🌟
🎃 Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful 3.5🌟
🧙🏻‍♀️ The Little Leftover Witch by Florence Laughlin 3.5🌟  

FAVORITE GHOSTLY BOOKS:

Go, go, ghosts! I've been interested in ghosts since I was very little. Anything concerning the supernatural is high on my list to read—both fiction and non-fiction. I don't know exactly why the subject of ghosts gives me a ghoulish glee, but it certainly does! Here are my top picks for books with "ghost" in the title or as a primary theme. Do you like ghost books, too?

👻 Ghosts and Bogels by Dinah Starkey 5🌟
👻 Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kahara 5🌟
👻 The Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason 5🌟
👻 How to Make Friends with a Ghost by Rebecca Green 5🌟
👻 What's a Ghost to Do? by Jane Thayer 5🌟 
👻 The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 5🌟
👻 The Winter Spirits by Bridget Collins 4.5🌟
👻 The Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson 4.5🌟
👻 The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters 4.5🌟 
👻 The Haunting Season by Bridget Collins 4🌟
👻 Ghosts from the Library by Tony Medawar 4🌟
👻 The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn 4🌟
👻 Among the Shadows by L.M. Montgomery 4🌟 
👻 City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab 4🌟
👻 The Ghost of Windy Hill by Clyde Robert Bulla 4🌟
👻 Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn 4🌟
👻 The Ghost at Penniman House by Wilma Pitchford Hays 3.5🌟
👻 The Ghost of Follonsbee's Folly by Florence E. Hightower 3.5🌟   
👻 The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 3🌟
👻 Victorian Ghost Stories (slowly savoring…this is another book gift from Virginia @oldbookdreamer 🤩) 

 

SERIOUSLY CHILLING TITLES:

These novels are a bit more over the top when it comes to ominous and eerie vibes. These frightening fifteen are perfect for when I'm looking for something a bit more unearthly and unsettling. Some of these books are also a bit more graphic in content. 

☠️ Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier 5🌟
☠️ The Magic Cottage by James Herbert 5🌟
☠️ The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware 4.5🌟
☠️ Bone China by Laura Purcell 4.5🌟
☠️ The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell 4🌟
☠️ The Corset by Laura Purcell 4🌟
☠️ We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson 4🌟
☠️ Audrey Rose by Frank de Felitta 4🌟
☠️ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson 4🌟
☠️ A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 4🌟
☠️ The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell 3🌟
☠️ The Turn of the Screw by Henry James 3🌟
☠️ House of Splinters by Laura Purcell (Currently Reading!!)
☠️ The Witching House by Brigit Collins (TBR!)
☠️ The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware (TBR)

 

FAVORITE ATMOSPHERIC MYSTERIES:

Reading mysteries during the month of October is a MUST. Although I'm a little more partial to a Gothic/thriller/suspense for a Halloween read, the murder mysteries below never fail to get me into a more macabre mindset! 

🔍 Halloween Party by Agatha Christie 5🌟
🔍 The Last Seance by Agatha Christie  4.5🌟
🔍 A Medium for Murder by Mignon Warner 4.5🌟
🔍 The Tarot Murders by Mignon Warner 4.5🌟
🔍 Sleep No More by P.D. James 4.5🌟
🔍 Haunted Lady by Mary Roberts Rhinehart (TBR)
🔍 The Spirit Murder Mystery by Robin Forsythe (TBR…excited to try this one!)

FUN HALLOWEEN CHILDREN'S BOOKS:

Yay for mummies, monters and murky mansions! Never mind the ghosts, ghouls and greedy witches. There's never a dull moment when meandering through menacing morgues, moonlit mists and malignant mausoleums—while munching on a midnight snack!

🎃 How to Make Friends with a Ghost by Rebecca Green 5🌟
🎃 Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kahara 5🌟
🎃 The Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason 5🌟
🎃 I SPY Spooky Night 5🌟
🎃 The Pumpkin Smasher by Anita Benarde 5🌟
🎃 Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey 5🌟
🎃 Dragon’s Halloween by Dav Pilkey 5🌟
🎃 No Such Thing by Ella Bailey 4.5🌟
🎃 Vlad The Fabulous Vampire by Flavia Z. Drago 4.5🌟
🎃 Wispp, The Littlest Witch by Rosemary Leahy Varney 4.25🌟
🎃 The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart 4🌟
🎃 Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell 4🌟
🎃 The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy 4🌟
🎃 Gustavo The Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago 4🌟
🎃 Leila The Perfect Witch by Flavia Z. Drago 4🌟
🎃 Cranberry Halloween by Wende & Harry Devlin 3🌟

 

BOOKS WITH SEANCE SCENES:

Calling all sinister spirits, supernatural spooks and shadowy specters! Seances are seriously another favorite topic of mine! I'll never get tired of reading about senseless shrieks, smoke and mirrors, spirit orbs and shivery souls in torment. 

🕯 Peril at End House by Agatha Christie 5🌟
🕯 Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer 5🌟
🕯 The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcel. 4.5🌟
🕯 The Last Seance by Agatha Christie 4.5🌟
🕯 The Seance by Joan Lowery Nixon 4.5🌟
🕯 The Dower House Mystery by Patricia Wentworth 4🌟
🕯 Murder at Hazelmoor/The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie 4🌟
🕯 Paranormal Parlor by Varla Ventura 3🌟
🕯 The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner  3🌟
🕯 Beverly Gray’s Scoop by Clair Blank 3.5🌟
🕯 The Shadow in the North by Phillip Pullman 3🌟
🕯 Seance on a Wet Afternoon by Mark McShane (TBR)
🕯 The Diviners by Libba Bray (TBR)

SEANCE MOVIES: (in order of preference)

There aren't many movies that fit this description or include a seance scene (even in the smallest sense). But, luckily, this list of ten tempting tragedies will trick you into a terrifying trance. In my mind, there aren't enough movies with this thrilling theme!

🔮 The Changeling (1980)
🔮 The Others (2001)
🔮 The Conjuring 2 (2016)
🔮 The House That Would Not Die (1970)
🔮 Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
🔮 The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
🔮 The Uninvited (1944)
🔮 Hereditary (2018)
🔮 Insidious (2010)
🔮 Magic in the Moonlight (2014) 

EERIE BLUE VINTAGE CHILDREN'S BOOKS:

Beware of these bewitching and bone-chilling books with a boo-tiful hue! For some weird reason, the blue color gives a bit of a blood-curdling burial ground vibe. The vintage books below are guaranteed to bring out the best fire-and-brimstone feels!

😱 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman 5🌟
📘 What's a Ghost to Do? by Jane Thayer 5🌟
😱 The Ghost of Windy Hill by Clyde Robert Bulla 4🌟 
📘 The Bewitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes 4🌟
😱 The Blue-Nosed Witch by Margaret Emery 4🌟
📘 The Ghost at Penniman House by Wilma Pitchford Hays 3.5🌟
😱 The Ghost of Follonsbee's Folly by Florence E. Hightower 3.5🌟
📘 The Witch’s Spoon by Mary Cunningham (TBR)
😱 The Haunted Cove by Elizabeth Baldwin Hazelton (TBR) 

The front of our house with jack o'lanterns, vintage pumpkins and googly eyes that move in the window!

FAVORITE HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES:

Autumn activities are always amusing and awesomely fun. Although, they were much more fun when my kids were young (now they are 32 and 22!). But, I'll still try to do at least a few of these every year. If I'm lucky, Ian and the kids might join in, too! Woo! 

  
🧡 Carving jack-o-lanterns
🖤 Watching scary movies
🧡 Halloween snacks
🖤 Giving out candy to trick-or-treaters
🧡 Making sugar & spice roasted pumpkin seeds

Rose and Benji in 2008 - so cute!

Wearing my glow-in-the-dark Buc-ee shirt from Texas!

HALLOWEEN/SCARY MOVIES I LOVE: (in order of preference)

You might not know this about me, but I love scary movies. Now that I'm older, it gets a bit harder each year to watch them (I seem to be getting more and more sensitive), but I still can't resist my favorites. These are the movies I re-watch either alone (or with my family) every single year. Highly recommended for hair-raising thrills!

A few of my favorite Halloween movies, plus two favorite seance movies: The Changeling and The Others! Lovely pumpkin card from Christie! 

 
🎬 The Exorcist (1 & 3)
🎬 The Changeling
🎬 The Others
🎬 Paranormal Activity series
🎬 Halloween series
🎬 The Omen trilogy
🎬 Hellraiser
🎬 The Ring
🎬 Rosemary’s Baby
🎬 Poltergeist series
🎬 Psycho
🎬 Prince of Darkness
🎬 The Craft
🎬 The Witches of Eastwick
🎬 Practical Magic
🎬 It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
🎬 The Adventures of Icabod and Mr. Toad

Many Halloween hugs!!💕🎃🤗🎃💕

Wonderful witch ornament gift from Carla and adorable crochet pumpkins from Caro!

 

 

A super fun vintage album of Halloween sounds!